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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26897656">bunny ears.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/xingyungf/pseuds/xingyungf'>xingyungf</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Kageyama Tobio, Childhood Friends, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hinata Shouyou &amp; Kageyama Tobio Friendship, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kageyama Tobio-centric, M/M, Oblivious Hinata Shouyou, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:41:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26897656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/xingyungf/pseuds/xingyungf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He seems blissfully ignorant to the weight of Tobio’s stare, which wavers from his lips to the way the light hits his neck to the gentle curve of his cheeks. “You get butterflies and you wanna touch them and be around them all the time, and then there’s a certain point where you’re just like: Oh,” Shouyou informs him. </p><p>Oh, Tobio thinks. </p><p> </p><p>( or; Forever is a long time. Tobio wants to spend every moment of it with Shouyou. )</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>539</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>HIII finally bringing this little kghn fic out of the drafts :,D i've already written the entire fic and will be posting the other two chapters over the next four days ... I hope you all enjoy!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio is 8 years old, sitting on his bottom in the gravel of his driveway; his helmet is on his head still, a plain black one, but his bike is tipped over in the dirt a couple feet to his left. Not that it matters to him any; instead he is staring at his red headed friend, who is on his knees in front of him, holding the laces of Tobio’s left shoe in either hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, first you have to tie it in a little knot,” Hinata instructs him; his fiery hair flops over his forehead a little, pale skin pink beneath the warmth of the sun, and the gentlest of smiles on his face. Tobio himself is a little pink from the sun, too, but he is not smiling. Instead he just stares, listening intensively. “And then you take both strings and you do…” Shouyou fumbles with the strings a little as he trails off, and once his hold is how he wants it, he continues; “Bunny ears! Mama taught me that trick.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio leans forward a little, in a way that strains his straightened leg, to get a closer look at the bunny ears. He’s never been the best at focusing, learning things consistently like this, especially about things that aren’t volleyball. He’s trying his best though, which is what his grandpa always says matters most, although his teachers and his grades don’t seem to agree with this. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then you cross them over, like this,” He does it slowly, so Tobio can follow along, and if Tobio were any more mature he would’ve probably felt a little bit more fond at this; Shouyou was never one to take things slow, and Tobio knew this best. “And then you pull one loop under, and…” Shouyou tugs, “BAM!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio flinches at the exclamation, stumbling back a little, and Hinata giggles at the shock displayed in his best friend’s face. “See? It’s easy peasy,” Shouyou tells him, waving towards his newly tied shoe. Tobio blinks at him. Blinks down at the shoe on his foot. Blinks up at Shouyou again, just for effect. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata’s face goes a little sad, like he’d really hoped he could help Tobio learn something new, but he gives his friend a little pat on the knee as a new grin comes to his mouth — this one, wide enough to make his eyes squint. “It’s OK if you don’t know how to tie them, though,” He reassures as he pushes himself to his feet, offers a pale hand out to Tobio, “We’re going to be best friends forever, so I’ll always be here to help you out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio makes a face of incredulity at the statement. “Forever is a long time,” He informs, and Shouyou just laughs and shoots back an, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I know, </span>
  </em>
  <span>like Tobio is silly for doubting the statement at all. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio is 18 years old and forever is a long time, but he has spent over half of his life with Shouyou by his side and the very idea of Tobio-and-Shouyou ending makes him feel sort of panicked. Throughout the last couple years of high school he was a little afraid, because growing up means letting go of the things you found comfort in for so long. Tobio isn’t very sentimental, and he doesn’t mind saying goodbye to school or home or all the other little things that fit in the cracks. But the very thought of leaving Shouyou makes him feel sort of ill. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luckily, that doesn’t have to happen, because Shouyou decides to take a gap year to collect his bearings before college, and with this he manages to stay pasted to Tobio’s side like he was born to be there. He trails behind Tobio like a lost puppy dog, moving in alongside of him to the cheap and small but nice apartment just ten minutes away from the college that Tobio had chosen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Some of their old friends from volleyball help them with moving in; carrying things up and down the steps for them and then hanging out inside for dinner afterwards because Miyagi is just over an hour away. Not that dinner is necessarily the most wonderful thing anyway, because they haven’t gone shopping for groceries yet which leaves their fridge nearly bare besides some vegetables and microwave meals from Shouyou’s parents. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Still, it is enough, and as Shouyou bids the last of them goodbye and shuts the door, Tobio realizes that he would rather live in this tiny apartment with nothing but microwave ready spicy ramen than live in a mansion without Shouyou one room over from him. Tobio was never used to having friends, but he was very familiar with having </span>
  <em>
    <span>a</span>
  </em>
  <span> friend — Hinata Shouyou — and he felt lucky that that was the one person who he had been beside his entire life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not that he’d ever tell Shouyou that, because it’s a little bit embarrassing and a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>out of character given their usual bickering and teasing personalities. They argue more often than not, and compliments are entirely foreign to them. This is just how Tobio and Shouyou’s friendship works. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio would not have it any other way, and he often hopes that Shouyou feels the same. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sun is going down, and it casts an eerie shadow alongside the artificial lights that makes Tobio feel sort of out of place in that way that new houses always do. It feels like he is in the shell of a home, just outside of commonplace. Tobio is shifting through the boxes for the bin with their blankets, and he can faintly hear the sound of Hinata over in the kitchen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata shuffles through a crate that Nishinoya gave them before he left, just a few snacks that aren’t very healthy but are incredibly enjoyable, and he exclaims when he stumbles upon a bag of popcorn. Tobio snorts at his friend’s excitement with an armful of blankets in his grasp, and he tosses them down on the couch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There is something gentle about the scene that settles deep within Tobio, a soft emotion settling in the pit of his stomach as he grabs the remote, thankful that Asahi helped set up the television since Tobio himself has no idea how the wiring works. As he turns the TV on he can acknowledge, faintly, that this is what contentment feels like. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The company of a best friend in a tiny apartment filled to the brim with boxes, and the smell of buttered popcorn in the air, and the feeling of youth settled somewhere deep inside your bones. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The television powers on as Hinata comes out of the kitchen with the bag of popcorn; “I don’t know where the bowls are,” Hinata says with a soft laugh, and Kageyama fights back a fond smile. “This TV better have Netflix or I’m rioting,” He teases, then, as he sits on the couch and tosses his feet into Kageyama’s lap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the sun burrows farther behind the collection of mountains that line the horizon, Tobio and Shouyou stay constant, drifting more tired as they sit on the couch. At a certain point, when the sky is particularly dark and the glow of the television is one of the only things providing light, Tobio assumes that Shouyou is asleep next to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That is, until he hears a small voice say, “Aren’t you a little afraid?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio blinks, looks down at his friend who is wrapped in a white blanket with a pattern of flowers and bunnies, and his chest tightens unfamiliarly. “Afraid of what?” He asks, and the silence returns. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An inhale and an exhale break through the relative silence, the television only background noise at this point, and Shouyou shifts a little so that he is looking up at Kageyama. “I mean, being so far from home,” He pauses, looks at Kageyama and then away, “I just… I’ve been around Mama and Natsu for so long. It’s weird, not being able to see them every day. It feels kinda… lonely.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio shifts a little, too, so that he’s facing Shouyou fully. The light of the tv makes Shouyou look softer than usual, like an eclipse; the sunlight in Shouyou only shows in the cracks, now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” Tobio attempts to reassure him, “I’ll always be here for you.” He can feel Shouyou’s stare like a physical touch. Tobio recalls a memory, distant, of bunny ears and childhood promises, and so he smiles a little and says, “Best friends forever, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The grim that Shouyou gives him in response has the same shine as a thousand suns, and he can feel the heat radiating off of him as he shuffles closer to lay his head on his shoulder. It’s only when he can hear the sound of gentle snoring that Tobio falls asleep, face tilted into a head of messy hair. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>As time passes, their little apartment on the edge of the city starts to feel a little bit more familiar in the way that a home is. A week and a half into the move, Shouyou has gotten himself a job at a little cafe, a five minute walk away from their place, and the boxes have been successfully emptied. Tobio’s room is cleaner than he can expect it to be for very long; his bed is freshly made and the small things he has collected over the years are settled messily on the shelves of his bookshelf. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s six AM and Tobio has the habit of waking up early to go for a run, because he likes the way that the air feels on his skin just before the sun rises; Shouyou has always been the one to sleep in at sleepovers, the only occasion he is up early being times he wanted to practice volleyball before school started back in high school. When he catches the tired but still outgoing eye of his best friend, Shouyou tells him that he has to be up </span>
  <em>
    <span>bright and early </span>
  </em>
  <span>for his new job.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There is something in the way he says it, something so sweetly familiar in the way that his hands tremble a little in excitement, and Tobio can see the glitter of anticipation. Tobio has known Shouyou for a long time but it still hits him a little bit, sometimes, just how purely amazing someone like Shouyou truly is. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Within a moment of silence, Hinata is pushing himself off of the stool to head towards the door with the intention of leaving the apartment. “I’ll see you later, Tobio!” Shouyou tells him from the doorway as he slips on his shoes, and Tobio calls out a - </span>
  <em>
    <span>bye!</span>
  </em>
  <span> - as the door clicks shut. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio himself was never good at talking, or paying attention, or really anything that a part time job expected from its workers. The very idea of someone walking up to him and expecting a cheery attitude as they spit out a bunch of different drinks or foods they expected him to remember makes his skin itch. He supposes a retail job would probably do better for him, but simultaneously the idea of pop music and artificial lighting and tons of teenage girls </span>
  <em>
    <span>also </span>
  </em>
  <span>worries him, so he thinks he’ll just keep his eye out for something else in the future. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Besides, college is approaching quite quickly, and he’s a little worried about the idea of attending a school everyday without Shouyou there to help him out with classes or distract him during lectures. Faintly he can remember a dozen times their teachers throughout the entirety of their education had scolded them for passing notes or roughhousing. As immature as it seems if he really thinks about it, Tobio is just a little scared of being alone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After his morning run, he takes a shower, and he always likes the water a little bit colder than usual after running for so long; he can feel the sweat collecting all over his skin and the relief that comes with washing it away. There is a nice chill in the rest of the apartment as he leaves the bathroom, but there’s also something particularly lonely of not having Hinata’s presence there, and he finds it a little dumb how much he has started to depend on Shouyou after all these years. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The hours alone drone on, he finds himself feeling admittedly </span>
  <em>
    <span>bored. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Always used to someone barging into his room or talking about nothing in particular or just </span>
  <em>
    <span>being there, </span>
  </em>
  <span>rather it be Shouyou or Miwa or his grandfather. The television is on but he is hardly paying attention, and he glances towards the door when he hears the familiar twist of the lock. Looking more lively than that morning stands Shouyou, a drink in each of his hands. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I brought you some coffee!” Shouyou tells him when he sees that Tobio is sitting on the couch, and he slips off his shoes at the door and prances over to settle down next to his friend. The ice in the cup clangs together a little as he hands it off to Tobio, and the latter thanks him and takes a small sip. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou’s eyes are trained on him in a way that means he is desperately waiting to see how Tobio reacts; a wide eyed, curious sort of stare. “It’s okay if you don’t like it,” Shouyou tells him although Tobio hasn’t said anything, “I’ll just bring you something different every time until you find something you like!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio takes another sip, then, and it’s sort of sweet with a flavor of vanilla, but not sweet enough to deter him entirely. “It’s not bad,” Tobio tells him, “Not too sweet.” Shouyou absolutely beams at the praise, and Tobio assumes swiftly that Shouyou was probably the one who made the drink. With this revelation, the next sip somehow tastes a little bit better. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Glad you like it!” Shouyou squeaks out happily, and Tobio notices that there is a rosy tint to his face, like he’s embarrassed at the praise. Although, Shouyou has never been one to be shy towards compliments, always preferring to bask in them like a cat bathing beneath the light of the sun. Tobio is all too familiar with the way his tiny friend preens when someone calls him talented or compliments his hair or something of the like. When Shouyou tosses his legs into Tobio’s lap and asks excitedly, “Whatcha watchin’?” the thoughts leave Tobio’s mind as quickly as they came. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio is fourteen years old, and he is sitting cross legged on his mattress next to Shouyou, listening to him complain about having no idea how to do the math homework. Kageyama has never been smart, but one of his better subjects is Math, and he’s about tired of struggling with Literature, so he abandons his worksheet in favor of sliding closer to Shouyou on the bed. “What don’t you understand?” Tobio asks flatly, arm pressed against Shouyou’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ugh, I don’t know,” Hinata drawls in response, “I just don’t know how to do this at all. Like, how do you find the square root? It doesn’t make any sense!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s quite loud, and Tobio has to lean away a little bit so as to not have an earful of Hinata’s exclamations, but Tobio finds that — despite the way he regularly swats at him and calls a dumbass — he enjoys Hinata’s annoying little traits just as much as his good ones. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He uses his own pencil as a talking point as he helps Hinata through the problem, explains little details Hinata isn’t fully understanding, and Shouyou’s face is radiating by the end of the instruction; his excitement always shines beyond his features, a physical warmth that blossoms in Tobio’s chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Tobio!” Shouyou tells him, patting him on the shoulder in a way that is a little too rough and frantic, “You're a great teacher!”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Eighteen year old Tobio is on the opposite side of this scenario, now. University had freshly started only a week before and already threw an armful of new classes in his direction — and, with this, a weighty amount of stress. It wasn’t that it was necessarily a lot of work, but that little things were always enough to throw Tobio off course entirely. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sits at the desk in his bedroom, desk light shining on the paper in front of him. It’s the last piece of work he’s supposed to have finished for now, but the due date is looming over him and the stress of its approach makes it harder for Tobio to remain attentive. Shouyou should be home from work soon, and he acknowledges this fact internally as he holds the eraser of his pencil between his teeth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a literature class, of course, that is annoying him so greatly. He’d been supposed to read a collection of poems and state different patterns and symbolism, but his brain was absolutely fried. Tobio sunk lower into the desk chair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He clicks his tongue, taps his pencil against the sheet, wriggles his toes. Does everything he can to distract his mind from the utter silence that surrounds him in the room. After a moment of absolutely nothing coming to mind, he rubs his eyes with the balls of his hands and sighs deeply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m home, Kags!” Hinata calls out from the hallway, and Tobio faintly acknowledges that he hadn’t even heard him come through the door, but then the fiery redhead is waltzing into his room with a Pumpkin Cinnamon iced coffee in his hand. He’d told Kageyama it was a seasonal option, but he’d spent so much pocket change on it from all the times Shouyou brought that drink home to Tobio that he supposed the cafe might keep it through the seasons. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio takes it from his hands eagerly, and Shouyou lets out a fond giggle as he stares at Tobio’s face; sometimes there are these expressions he makes, round eyes and flushed cheeks and warm smiles, that make Tobio feel </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It is such a sudden and strange emotion that he doesn’t dwell on it for long, but it’s always there in the background. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How’s your homework?” Shouyou asks as he leans into the wall, and Tobio continues to sip his drink for a moment longer before he removes the straw from his mouth to gesture vaguely to the page. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Confusing,” He settles on, and Shouyou leans forward a little, arms crossed like a cool character in an 80s movie. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou hums, softly in the quiet room, and then says, “I actually have no idea how to do that.” Tobio snorts amusedly in response, but the positive emotion is short-lived when he realizes again that he has </span>
  <em>
    <span>no idea </span>
  </em>
  <span>what he’s doing. “But,” Shouyou speaks, a saving grace, “Google is always an option.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t that cheating?” Tobio asks as Shouyou taps something into the search engine of his cell phone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Duh,” Shouyou responds easily without looking away from the phone screen. His face looks a little silly with the way the light hits it, but the curve of his nose and his cheeks are so gentle and sweet, sort of like a chubby little animal. Tobio’s heart tugs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou helps him through the work ( read: helps him cheat, ) like the absolute </span>
  <em>
    <span>angel </span>
  </em>
  <span>that he is, and part of Tobio wants to kiss him all over the place as thanks. Which — is a particularly weird thought, but girls kiss each other on the cheeks all the time, so he supposes it’s not anything he should dwell on. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How’s work going?” Tobio asks Shouyou while he scribbles out the last of the work onto the page, and he can feel Shouyou’s excitement pulse alongside his own heartbeat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s great!” Shouyou tells him, crossing over to throw himself onto Tobio’s bed. “Everyone’s really nice there and stuff. It’s not really busy, either, cuz it’s a small little place.” Tobio is done with writing, so he drops his pencil onto the desk and turns his full attention to Shouyou. “There’s this girl who started working there now, too, named Shimizu. She’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>really pretty. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Like, I think she could be a model.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio can’t speak for a second, for a reason he can’t really place; there is something stirring in the pit of his stomach so suddenly it makes him want to drop to the floor. His face feels a little hot, and the tips of his fingers and his ears do too. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The requirements to be a model aren’t just being pretty, dumbass,” Tobio says instead, and the exhale he lets out is a little shaky as he turns back to the paper although it’s complete. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Psh, I know that,” Shouyou says in a way that tells Tobio that he certainly didn’t know that, “I’m just saying. She’s super sweet, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio doesn’t respond. He just sinks his front teeth into his bottom lip and wonders why his stomach feels like it’s spinning with a tornado at the thought of Shouyou going starry eyed over some girl he works with. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio is 18 years old when he starts to feel something unfamiliar stirring in the pit of his stomach for the first time. The sun is freshly up, leaving the sky painted streaks of peach and gold, clouds kissed around the edges by the mouth of the sun as Tobio walks along the sidewalk in the direction of the cafe that Hinata is working at this morning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s not that he wants to see Shouyou again before he heads to University, except that it sort of is, because Hinata had been in the shower when he headed out for his run and by the time he came back his friend had already headed off to work. Tobio is a little bit too attached to routine, or maybe he’s just attached to waking up to Hinata Shouyou, because he finds himself walking towards the boy's work, out of the house ten minutes earlier than usual. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His headphones are tucked into his ears as he walks along the street until he reaches the little shop; a sleek and cozy place on the corner of the block. The bell above the door twinkles out in the relatively quiet room when he pushes it open, and his eyes are immediately drawn to Hinata at the counter. His red hair is peaking out of the edges of his cap, falling over his forehead and around his ears, and a black apron is tied around his torso. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something about Shouyou now, tongue peeking out from a pair of rosy lips as he focuses on tapping something into the register, makes Tobio’s heart pick up the pace. He subconsciously presses one of his hands to the fabric of his t-shirt over his chest, and after a beat Shouyou glances up towards him. Nearly immediately, a wide grin spreads over the boy’s face, and he waves excitedly at Tobio in a way that makes his heart lurch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Tobio approaches him, he wonders why he can hardly breathe, and why the inside of his mouth suddenly feels dry. A small, strangled noise that is drowned out by the music in the shop makes its way out of Tobio’s mouth immediately as he stands across the counter from his tiny redheaded friend, and then he clears his throat when Shouyou delivers him an excited little, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Hello!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” Tobio says, pauses, “I just - Didn’t see you this morning,” ( </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why does his face suddenly feel hot and tingly? Why do his fingertips feel numb? </span>
  </em>
  <span>) “Can I have the - the pumpkin thing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou’s grin widens, and he nods his head, and with the movement his hair bounces where it peers from beneath the cap. Tobio feels like these little things are taunting him, but the thought disappears when Shouyou just says, “That’s 400 yen!” Tobio nearly drops the money as he pulls it from his pocket. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He waits at he side of the counter where Shouyou points, and he casually watches Shouyou’s side profile as the redhead rings up the next customer. The smile stays on his face, the one he always wears, the one that makes you feel important and loved. Tobio hesitantly, wonders if these strangers don’t feel the energy of the smile in the same way that Tobio might. Maybe he’s biased. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe it’s not the smile that makes him feel loved, but instead it is just Hinata Shouyou. He wonders why the idea of something as innocent as the love of a best friend makes his chest tighten a little. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s broken out of his thoughts when Shouyou is bringing his coffee over, the same iced Pumpkin Cinnamon coffee as always. “Tobio!” He calls out, probably out of habit of calling out the names of every customer before handing off the coffee, “Have fun at school today!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio decidedly will not have fun, because University is a lot of things but thus far it is not a very enjoyable experience, but he still gives Shouyou a wobbly little smile and a nod in response, and his chest clenches at the grin on Shouyou’s face once more. As he leaves, hearing the twinkle of the bell above the door once again, he glances down at where Shouyou wrote his name on the cup. </span>
  <b>
    <em>Tobio &lt;3</em>
  </b>
  <span>, in thick, black Sharpie. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something comes alive in his stomach, briefly; something unfamiliar but also something he thinks has been there a while. He swallows it down and pushes it to the back of his mind for later, instead taking a sip of his iced coffee and trying to focus on the way the flavors taste against his tongue. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t know why he itches to turn around and go back to Shouyou and just talk to him for the rest of the hours. Except, it feels like he </span>
  <em>
    <span>should </span>
  </em>
  <span>know. </span>
  <em>
    <span>( I don’t know I don’t know I don’t, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he says to himself, but it even sounds like a lie in his mind. </span>
  <em>
    <span>)</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The thing about being best friends with so long is that, sometimes, when things get quiet and you get tired and you want nothing but silent company, there are times where you can just lay by their side and feel their presence. There are sometimes where that is all you need. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a week after Tobio had come into Hinata’s work, and he lays on his back on his bed, and Shouyou lays next to him just out of reach. He doesn’t know just how they both got there, but the desk-lamp is providing a dim amount of light, and the sound of shallow breathing is the only thing he can hear for a while. Tobio is so used to rough touches and mean jokes that he forgets the bliss of silence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Half of him starts to think that Shouyou might’ve fallen asleep, but his eyes still stay trained to the ceiling above them, and then he hears a meek, “Tobio?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something about the voice makes Tobio want to clutch his chest. He just swallows thickly instead, and the silence is so palpable that every shuffle can be heard. The air is so still that it can be felt, too, with the shifting pressure of the mattress. Tobio hums in acknowledgement, and Shouyou hesitates. “Have you ever, um,” He stumbles over his words, tone falling soft, almost a whisper, “Have you ever been in love?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio feels stiff. Shouyou can probably feel it, the way his entire body freezes, even if Shouyou isn’t close enough to touch him. Part of Tobio wants to look, to stare, but another part of him chants that it’s wrong. Looking at Shouyou and touching Shouyou and being in the presence of Shouyou, here, feels a little bit like a crime. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How do you know?” Tobio asks. There is a silence, and his blue eyes trace over the dimly lit ceiling, which looks more gray than white without the light of the sun. “How do you know if you’re in love?” Tobio asks again, for clarification, but the silence still stretches farther. In it, Tobio rolls his head to face Shouyou, whose eyes are still trained on the ceiling overhead. His lips are parted gently. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How do you know, how do you know, how do you know? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Tobio’s mind chants the question, and he tries to ignore how important it feels to know the answer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You just kind of… </span>
  <em>
    <span>know,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Shouyou’s voice isn’t loud, but it isn’t as soft as it had been a moment ago. He seems blissfully ignorant to the weight of Tobio’s stare, which wavers from his lips to the way the light hits his neck to the gentle curve of his cheeks. “You get butterflies and you wanna touch them and be around them all the time, and then there’s a certain point where you’re just like: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Shouyou informs him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Tobio thinks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou looks beautiful in the night, and every light against him looks like the golden light of the sun, and his skin is smooth and his eyes are sparking and his lips look chapped but still so soft and pink; Shouyou looks beautiful in the night but he also looks beautiful in the morning, and in the afternoon, and in the period where the sun just begins to set and the glare of the sun allows him to glow just as it does to the clouds. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou looks beautiful all the time, and the thought makes something burst in the pit of Tobio’s stomach, and he knows what it is now. His hand wants to press against Hinata’s where it relaxes against the comforter, and he never wants to leave this moment of time, but if he has to he wants to spend every moment with Shouyou. He wants to hear his voice chattering about nothing all the time, and he wants to hear the sound of his laugh and feel the weight of him pressing into his arm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Tobio thinks again, just for the sake of it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m in love with Hinata Shouyou. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At a certain point he falls asleep, and Shouyou must too, because the next morning he can hear the click of the door as the other boy exits, likely to get ready for work. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio scraped his knee while riding his bike once, when he was ten years old. The memory was a little frayed, but he remembered the slam of his body and how he slid across the pavement, and how little pebbles were stuck in his knee. He remembered the rough sting of it, and the immediate panic, and how he pretended tears weren’t prickling his eyes when Shouyou tossed his own bike to the gravel and wobbled over to help him. He was never a good liar, or maybe Shouyou was just really good at reading Tobio, because he sort of stared at his face for a moment before he dropped next to Tobio and grabbed his hand and told him to calm down. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go get your grandpa, okay?” Shouyou said, attempting to make his voice gentle, but Tobio could tell he was panicking a little too. Despite the tears, he laughed a little, and then make Shouyou help him inside rather than sending him off to get his grandfather. Maybe he was a little afraid of being alone. Or maybe traces of his love for Shouyou were there, even then, and even ten year old Kageyama Tobio never wanted to leave Shouyou’s side as long as he had the choice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou had helped out with cleaning Tobio’s knee up, all the while wearing a quite concerned face, and despite the insistent sting Tobio still was quite entertained by just how serious Shouyou had been taking the wound. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Although, 18 year old Kageyama Tobio could kind of understand this concern when he came home on a Friday to see Hinata was snuggled under a big blanket on the couch. He peeked out of one of his eyes to see Tobio, and then softly mumbled, “Got sent home early today.” Tobio discarded his shoes by the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” He’d responded simply as he walked over to where Hinata was laying. His hair was just as messy as usual, starting to get a little bit longer than he typically kept it; Tobio wouldn’t admit this, but he liked when Hinata’s hair started to fall over his forehead like this. He could hardly see the mass of his face where he hid it behind the covers. There was something drowsy about the way Shouyou spoke, though, that tipped him off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“M sick,” Shouyou mumbled, moving his outstretched feet so that Tobio could sit down. The latter took the silent offer swiftly, and Shouyou popped his socked feet back into his lap again. A little bit more of his face peered from beneath the blanket, and Tobio could see flushed cheeks and the bridge of his round nose. “My head hurts… and my nose is stuffy,” He sniffles, and Tobio can tell it is just for dramatic effect, “And I’m so tired. And cold.” Tobio laughs a little, and Shouyou makes an appalled expression. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Laughing at my pain!” Shouyou gently kicks him, and part of Tobio hopes that Shouyou is purposely handling him with care, but he knows it’s more likely that Shouyou just doesn’t have the full power to kick him as hard as he would like. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio just laughs a little more, and Shouyou’s expression suddenly turns into something far more fond, like he’s admiring Tobio. He looks at Tobio like he is something to be admired, and to be cared for, and to be loved. He thinks he might be giving the same expression back to Shouyou, and that scares him a little, because Shouyou has always been the one person who can see right through him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A smile is still ghosting over Tobio’s face as he gently lifts Shouyou’s feet to stand, and the latter makes a noise of disapproval. “I’ll make you some soup,” Tobio quickly tells him, and Shouyou is looking up at him with stars in his eyes, and Tobio finds that he suddenly can hardly breathe. Luckily he doesn’t have to continue the conversation now that he has given himself an out, so he turns suddenly and heads out to the kitchen to make some soup. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time that it’s done, though, he walks out to the living room with the food in hand to see that Shouyou is snuggled under the covers fast asleep, head tilted back, chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. Tobio hesitates, stares, and he feels his heart pound fiercely in his chest as he looks at his roommate and best friend and the person he has been in love with for what feels like forever and also no time at all. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stares, and his mind reels, and his eyes do not know if they should focus on his growing hair or his button nose or his rosy mouth, and his thoughts do not know if they should settle on how beautiful Shouyou is, or how bad he never wants him to feel pain, or how the soup is steadily losing heat the longer he wastes time staring. After a moment he places the bowl down on the coffee table and allows himself to get a closer look at the sleeping face of Shouyou; the same face he has grown up with. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio presses a gentle kiss to his warm forehead just because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted to, </span>
  </em>
  <span>so badly that it ached, but he realizes when he pulls away and the ache does not cease that he does not just want to kiss Shouyou’s forehead and make him soup while he is sick. He wants to tell Shouyou he loves him, and hold him when he is sad, and grow old with him; he wants to kiss Shouyou, and to be the only one he loves to a grander extent than friendship. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wants to be with Shouyou, and he cannot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio gently shakes him awake and tries not to swoon at the way that his brown eyes flutter open, red eyelashes batting like the wings of a butterfly. Shouyou stretches out on the sofa like a cat, and Tobio watches the movement for a brief second before he looks away to pretend that he hadn’t been staring the entire time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw, thank you Tobio,” Shouyou drawls as he grabs the food, places it in his own lap over the covers, and the way his round eyes stare up at Tobio ( glistening in the light the way they always do, with a particular expression that seems to be reserved for Tobio, ) it makes the latter’s breath shutter as it enters his lungs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It seems he cannot fall in love with Hinata Shouyou just once, but a million little times, and at the sight of brown eyes and flushed cheeks he can feel the floor dropping beneath his feet as he falls all over again. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio remembered clearly, vividly, the way the air felt between him and Shouyou one particular day of their first year of high school. Silence spread between them as Shouyou shuffled through a volleyball magazine and Tobio pretended to scroll through his phone. He remembered the way his heartbeat pounded viciously, and the way his skin felt hot all over. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He remembered how it felt to speak the words to Shouyou, in the silence of the room. The way the, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m gay,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>felt against his tongue for the first time. He still remembered the shocked stare of brown eyes on his skin. The way it tasted to say these words was sour and bitter, but also a weight off of his shoulders that had been there so long that it felt odd to let it go. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His hands shook, too, he could recall like it only happened a day ago; and his palms felt numb like they sometimes feel when you fall onto them on the sidewalk and scrape them up. “I’m gay,” He’d said again, and it hurt a little bit. “I don’t… like girls.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Shouyou had responded, with a certain stare on his face that Tobio couldn’t interpret; wide eyes and steadily flushing cheeks and a pink lip tucked between his teeth. Initially something deep in Tobio’s gut sparked, such a thoroughly rooted fear, but then he watched Shouyou’s face spread to a wide and genuine smile. With that, the fear inside of Tobio faded away. “That’s cool, Kags!” A sweet little thumbs up, “Thank you for telling me!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio remembers the relief, how it flooded through him, and how the wobbly smile felt on his lips. He remembers the warmth that encompassed him. And as 18 year old Kageyama Tobio lies in his bed one night, staring at the ceiling in silence, he wonders how it would be to just tell Shouyou the truth. Tell him that he discovered that he loves him in more than a way than he probably should. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The darkness of the night has its grasp on him, luring him to sleep, but the scarce consciousness he has is leaving him to wonder how Shouyou might react. Would he be accepting, politely declining Tobio, happy to drift back into their typical dynamic while his best friend sorts out his feelings? Would he try to pretend that he is accepting, but make fun of Tobio behind his back?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Would he try to ignore it, like it’s some sick part of Tobio that he refuses to acknowledge? Or, maybe, he would just get up and leave on the spot. Maybe the door would slam behind him as he goes, and maybe the next time he’d see him again would be when Shouyou is packing his bags to leave. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio squeezes his eyes shut and forces himself to remember that this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hinata Shouyou</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It’s more likely that Shouyou would be confused, maybe not even understand Tobio’s feelings when he is stating them directly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A little voice in the back of Kageyama Tobio’s head wonders if, maybe possibly potentially, there was any chance that this confession may lead to one on Shouyou’s end, and maybe their hearts would both be pounding as Shouyou gently tugs Tobio in to kiss him, and twists his nimble little fingers through the hair hanging at the base of Tobio’s head, and— Tobio’s cheeks go hot and he shoves his face into the pillow, and he feels like every inch of his skin is on fire. It’s almost embarrassing, the way Shouyou can suddenly turn him into a flustered mess without even being in the room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually the darkness of the night wrapped its arms around him, pulled him in, and he felt the way that sleep caressed his face as he fell into it. When he’d wake in the morning he wouldn’t remember his dreams, but he would faintly be able to picture the way that brown eyes ( misty around the edges, ) stared into his own, and the faint feeling of pink lips pressed against warm skin; soft. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio is 18 years old, and it is not the first time he is nervous next to Hinata Shouyou. He knew he liked boys for a long time, knew he didn’t really like girls for even longer, but his feelings for Shouyou were a relatively new discovery; although part of him knew that it was likely brewing below the surface far longer than he could’ve expected. Shouyou’s weight against his side as they sat on the couch, a movie playing on the television, was reminiscent of their first day in the new place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Except everything was different now. Tobio sat here and instead of enjoying the movie and Shouyou’s company, he could only want more. To kiss him, to hold him, to press his weight against Shouyou’s side. He spares a glance at Shouyou and sees that the edges of his face are sparkling against the light of the television; there are stars in his eyes and sparks on his lips, and Tobio wants to touch and taste and stare. All of his senses are attuned to Hinata. Tobio quickly turns his head back towards the TV. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s not really sure what the movie is about, but it is one of the many superhero movies that have been released over the past decade, and he can tell by the energy that radiates off of the redhead that Shouyou is enraptured with it. There is a silent point in the movie where he can see Shouyou is looking at him out of his peripheral vision, but Tobio keeps his gaze on the television, trying to ignore the weight of the stare against the side of his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Part of him wonders if, (</span>
  <em>
    <span> hopes, </span>
  </em>
  <span>that</span>
  <em>
    <span>, </span>
  </em>
  <span>) Shouyou is a little bit, ( </span>
  <em>
    <span>entirely, completely, </span>
  </em>
  <span>) attuned to Tobio, too. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He holds his breath when he feels it. The softest of grazes against the side of his hand, the touch of skin, edged off with electricity that burns through him. He can’t feel  Shouyou’s stare anymore, not as Tobio bites his own bottom lip and wonders if he should press his own hand further into the touch. A soft fingertip, a little calloused but very gentle, traces the knuckle of Tobio’s pinky; curls around, settles there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There is something so sweet about Shouyou gently interlocking his pinky with Tobio’s that sends a shiver down the latter’s spine, but he stills himself entirely before allowing himself to give Shouyou the gentlest squeeze he can muster. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou presses a little closer, fingers crawling across Tobio’s skin until they relax entirely there; palm pressed against the back of Tobio’s hand, fingers curling in the cracks between Tobio’s. The air is tight, and Shouyou’s breathing comes in soft puffs, while Tobio’s is a mix of soft gasps and shaky sighs, and he knows his face is a fiery shade of red but he doesn’t have the bravery to look at Shouyou, to see if his cheeks match the rosy shade of his own. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio musters up the courage to brush the pad of his thumb against Shouyou’s index finger, and the moment is suspended in time as he realizes there is nobody else he can see himself doing this with but Shouyou. Tobio has admired boys and he has had fleeting little crushes but he has never wanted to hold a hand like this, in the silence of the night, and he has never wanted to share an apartment  </span>
  <em>
    <span>( a home, )</span>
  </em>
  <span>  with anyone but Shouyou.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could never imagine anyone else talking to him in gentle tones when he scrapes his knee while they ride bikes, or anyone else responding to his coming out with a supportive thumbs up and a giant smile, or anyone else sitting with him on the gravel and teaching him how to tie his shoelaces. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t usually believe in things you hear about in romcom movies, things you see in love letters with heart shaped seals, but he as he feels the sparks travel against his skin from Shouyou’s warm palm, he thinks of the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>soulmate, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he thinks there is no other word to describe or encompass the way that Shouyou makes Tobio feel. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No matter what Tobio does; no matter how bossy he acts, how closed off he makes himself, how he tries to run or hide from the emotions inside of him, Tobio cannot imagine a world where Hinata Shouyou does not end up pasted to his side with that familiar glint still sparkling in his eyes. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio is 18 years old when he meets love for the first time, stares it in the face, and takes a chance. He can hear the music coming from Shouyou’s room when he enters their apartment after a long day at University; a day that he nearly skipped out on in favor of hanging out with Shouyou instead, but managed to confront his common sense enough to motivate himself to leave the house for the morning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He slips off his shoes at the door and heads towards the noise, a curious expression on his face as he approaches the bedroom door; Tobio considers knocking, but he is too curious about what scene may be on the other side of the door that he just twists the knob again. And there Shouyou is; dancing in the room in a hoodie that is too big to be his, music blasting as his red hair flies around his head like a halo. He spots Tobio almost immediately, but he is shameless, and instead of blushing or trying to shut off the music he just twists around to grab Tobio by the hands and tug them into the room entirely. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What song is this?” Tobio says through a giggle, and Shouyou hesitates, and there are stars in his eyes where he traces the edge of Tobio’s face with his stare; he doesn’t even respond to the question, just sucks his own bottom lip into his mouth and meets Tobio’s eyes with an expression like bliss. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His hands are rough and firm in Tobio’s, a tight hold, and Tobio is confronted with just how rough Shouyou is in general; he pushes Tobio just as much as Tobio pushes </span>
  <em>
    <span>him, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he can tolerate it, and he can still be so energetic all the time. He is as bright and as wonderful as the sun, and Tobio thinks he is only a cold little planet revolving around him, pulled in by this energy Shouyou contains. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou trips a little, letting out a pitchy giggle as he falls into Tobio’s torso, and the latter holds him up with a pair of cold hands pressed into his back over the fabric of the thick hoodie. “Do you remember,” Shouyou speaks through giggles, the palms of his hands planted firmly over Tobio’s chest, “When we were fifteen… our first high school dance. And I made you dance like this in front of </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone. </span>
  </em>
  <span>So embarrassing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio flushes a little bit at the memory; even then, despite the immediate embarrassment, it had felt like it was only them there. Shouyou had always had his entire attention even before romantic feelings got involved, he realizes intensely. Looking at Shouyou now, panting and staring at him from so close, he can almost see Shouyou </span>
  <em>
    <span>then, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he thinks he has always felt this way about him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio is 18 years old and it has always been Shouyou, </span>
  <em>
    <span>will always be Shouyou</span>
  </em>
  <span>, who has Tobio’s heart. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I remember,” Tobio sighs out a little softer than he had intended, “You still can’t dance.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou’s face delves into a playful pout, eyes falling from where they were staring into Tobio’s. “You can’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Shouyou tells him, and it seems he’s attempting to hit Tobio’s chest but it’s more of a gentle tap than anything, “Dancing is, like, subjective.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re still awful, dumbass,” Tobio responds easily, but he’s a little distracted by how Shouyou stares at his lips as he speaks, and he notices something like a determined look on his best friend’s face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Remember when,” Shouyou cuts himself off to inhale shakily, and Tobio’s hands can feel the way Shouyou’s body shudders with it, “At that dance, you told me I looked stupid and then,” A pause where Shouyou bites his lower lip, releases it, “You told me that you’d still be friends with me no matter how stupid I was?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio chuckles softly, and it feels like a loud noise in a silent room even if the music Shouyou had on is still buzzing. “I’m pretty sure you made my words sound a lot nicer than they actually did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou laughs gently, and the noise makes Tobio’s heart ache in his chest, “Yeah, I probably did. But that’s what you meant, right?” His eyes finally shift up to Tobio’s eyes, and the latter processes just how close they actually are, face flooding with warmth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Tobio admits, covers up his honesty with a bought of laughter, and Shouyou’s eyes look like liquid gold with the light of the sun flooding through the window, “Be stupid all you want. You still can’t escape me.” He finishes off with a gentle squeeze to where his hands rest on the curve of Shouyou’s back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou squeaks at the sudden pressure, resettles his eyes back on Tobio’s mouth, and says, “Then I’m about to do something </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> stupid.” Tobio can hardly process the words when there is a rough hand snaking to hold the back of his head and pull his face down to Shouyou’s height so that the shorter of the two can press their lips together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio exhales sharply out of his nose, frozen for a moment as he feels the other hand move from his chest to press against the side of his jaw, and the touch is gentle but persuasive, and Tobio doesn’t know what else to do except to lean into the warm press of Shouyou’s lips and to melt there; the heat of the sun is pulling him in, he thinks, and this is where he dies - where they are finally connected. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His hands crawl up the span of Shouyou’s back subconsciously, fists clenching in the fabric as he tightens his grasp, attempts to pull Shouyou closer while his mind pulsates between shock and bliss. He wonders if this is what it is for the planets to kiss the stars; to want them closer and closer until they are nothing anymore. Tobio moves his mouth against Shouyou with the same flow as he receives, and he begins to taste Shouyou on his tongue; he is cinnamon gum and vanilla lip balm and hot chocolate. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio’s hands trek towards Hinata’s face to hold him there; grasp ahold the gentle skin of his cheeks, palm resting against the curve of his jawline, pinky tucked behind his ear. They push each other where they want, where it’s easiest for them to press and pull and tug, and then Tobio holds Shouyou’s face as he breaks away for long enough to ask, “How long?” And Shouyou crashes his mouth back against Tobio’s before the sentence is fully out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then it is Shouyou breaking away, panting gently as he says, “So long,” And Tobio’s hands fall to Shouyou’s shoulders, holding him far enough away that he can stare into Shouyou’s brown eyes. “God,” Shouyou exhales, and he untangles his fingers from Tobio’s hair so that he can hide his own face in his palms, “So long that it’s embarrassing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio just stares, bites his lip as he waits. “Since first year,” Shouyou tells him, muffled by his hands, “Of high school. I realized when, um, you came out to me.” He drops his fingers from his face, then, and meets Tobio’s eye sheepishly when he asks, “How long for you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio immediately molds his hands to the back of his neck and tugs him back in, sealing their mouths back together, and Shouyou only hesitates for a second before his hands clutch onto Tobio’s elbows; the movement is so gentle, gentle enough to make Tobio’s heart ache, and he recalls the memory of him confessing his sexuality to Shouyou, that weird stare in his eyes as he’d said </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he thinks that’s it. That was love. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Love has surrounded Tobio for a long time, and he can’t really describe it or define it, but he knows that this - the stares they give each other, the way they press into each other so smoothly that it’s as if they’ve read the other’s mind - he knows </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>is love. “It’s always been you, Shouyou,” Tobio says into his mouth, and he thinks about how falling in love comes a million little times, and he can feel the sensation of them both falling together again and again and </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata Shouyou is the sun, pulling Tobio in and burning him to the touch, and Tobio can only recall that this is what every moment of Shouyou-and-Tobio over the years has been leading up to. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes the press between their mouths is so gentle that it makes Tobio’s lips tingle, and other moments it is so rough that Tobio can feel the hard press of Shouyou’s teeth, and it hurts a little either way; it hurts in his </span>
  <em>
    <span>chest, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and in his veins, and on every inch of the surface of his skin. Tobio wonders if Shouyou is burning, too, where Tobio’s hands press against either side of his face to mold him where he wants. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’re both domineering, here - both want </span>
  <em>
    <span>too much</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but Tobio thinks as he presses into Shouyou and memorizes the way he sounds and feels and tastes here, that he would be willing to give himself in his entirety to Shouyou. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can feel the tears that begin to fall down his face, and he knows Shouyou can feel them too, the gentle brush of a thumb against warm and tearstained skin. “I love you,” Tobio tells him, makes sure Shouyou can feel the words against his mouth, and Shouyou finally breaks away from the kiss but Tobio can see that his eyes are still closed. Tobio can still feel the kiss against his mouth, like that moment is suspended in time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shouyou’s wrists are resting on his shoulders, and Tobio quickly sees that Shouyou has begun to cry now, and he can hear it in his voice when Shouyou whispers, “I’ve loved you for so long.” It almost hurts, how disbelieving he sounds, as if he hadn’t believed it was possible for Tobio to ever feel the same. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio believes in infinite universes, endless possibilities, but he does not believe that there is a universe where he is not endlessly, irreversibly in love with Hinata Shouyou. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shouyou are both 18 years old when they go on their first date. They’ve never done this before, and they don’t really know what they’re doing, but Tobio thinks that Shouyou doesn’t mind by the way that he stares at Tobio. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio is starting to realize that the stars in Shouyou’s eyes are for him, and they’re only there because Shouyou is just as in love with Tobio as Tobio is with Shouyou. It’s warm outside, so they get ice cream together at a little shop on the corner, and they both order theirs in waffle cones so that they can still walk hand in hand. Tobio likes the feeling of Shouyou’s hand in his own, even if it’s warm outside and his palm is sweating. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t have to sneak his glances at Shouyou anymore, because it’s okay to look now, and Shouyou is looking to. And when Tobio thinks about it, Shouyou has always been looking; he just finally knows why. He can feel Shouyou’s stare on the side of his face as he walks, but he no longer feels too afraid to look back, and so he turns to see the smile on Shouyou’s face in full. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you like your ice cream?” Shouyou asks, poking his tongue out to lick at his own; butter pecan, which Tobio doesn’t really understand, but Shouyou seems to enjoy a lot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s good,” Tobio responds; his own is chocolate, which Shouyou teases for being so plain. Tobio thinks, if the person making the ice cream is talented, chocolate can easily be the best flavor. Besides, his teeth are on the sensitive side, so he hates biting into crunchy things in ice cream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you having fun?” Shouyou then asks, bouncing a little as he walks alongside Tobio, swinging their hands back and forth. Tobio looks at him for a moment, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really looks, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and his heart pulses so hard he thinks Shouyou may be able to feel it where the inside of their wrists press together. Shouyou comes alive beneath the sun like this, skin highlighted gold, eyes edged off with amber, hair an open flame. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio squeezes his hand. “Always,” He tells him, and relishes in the smile that Shouyou sends him. “You’re really beautiful,” Tobio tells him without thinking, now that he can, and he can’t deny how endearingly cute it is when Shouyou ducks his head as the tips of his ears fade pink. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They soon throw out the last of their ice cream, which has considerably melted on their walk, and Shouyou chirps out about sitting on a bench just to watch nature, although Tobio is far more interested in watching Shouyou. When they settle there, the latter notices that Tobio’s shoe is untied, so he settles to the ground at Tobio’s feet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio watches intently as Shouyou twists his thin fingers around the shoelaces, tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth cutely, and Tobio sort of wants to kiss the endearing expression off of his face. Still, he is content to just admire. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He laughs softly at the fact that Shouyou is still using the </span>
  <em>
    <span>bunny ears</span>
  </em>
  <span> method of shoe tying even into adulthood, and as Shouyou tugs the bunny ears a distant memory clicks in the back of Tobio’s mind. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They are the same two people, but it’s been ten years now, and when Shouyou meets his eyes Tobio realizes that everything and nothing has changed. He remembers a promise, and he remembers the doubt he’d felt while hearing the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that said, as Shouyou looks up at him from the ground, Tobio holds out his pinky and asks Shouyou, “Best friends forever?” It’s a little childish, maybe, but Shouyou clearly doesn’t think so; his eyes shine as he bounces a little, locking his own pinky in Tobio’s. A promise. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Forever is a long time,” Shouyou teases, and Tobio can hear the words on his own tongue from so many years ago. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Tobio says easily. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Forever is a long time, but Tobio can confidently say that Shouyou is his soulmate, and that he will spend every second of </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever</span>
  </em>
  <span> by Shouyou’s side. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i hope u enjoyed the fic !!! i worked very hard on it :D the end !!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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